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Congratulations are in order to Vargas Turbo Tech as well as Cobb tuning and ProTuning Freaks for raising the bar as to what the BMW N54 inline-6 twin turbo motor is capable of. There are two platform records here the first of which it is important to note was achieved without methanol injection. There are certain tuners on the N54 platform that mask their ability to upgrade and control the stock fueling system and any fueling issues are "solved" by dumping in a ton of methanol.

Well, with no meth and the cars own fuel system (with High Pressure Fuel Pump tweaks courtesy of Vargas Turbo Tech) responsible for all the fueling 673 wheel horsepower was achieved in STD correction on a Dynojet. That is a record for horsepower on the platform without methanol injection and was done with a blend of MS109 fuel and 93 octane.

Meth injection was then added and the figures rose to 693 wheel horsepower. If more time was available for the parties involved including Josh at Cobb as well as Jake and Dzeeno at ProTuning Freaks the 700 wheel barrier likely would have been crossed. This will happen sooner rather than later now but this is still a major milestone and a new era the N54 is entering. The motor is finally starting to mature and although it is not on a comparable power level yet with the top BMW aftermarket options this is a huge step step forward for a platform that spent considerable time in limbo due to fueling and tuning issues.

It must be satisfying for all involved especially Vargas Turbo who was doubted by many early on due to being a fresh entrant on the N54 tuning scene with many fanboys blindly following another tuner providing a turbo upgrade. Vargas Turbo Tech, Cobb, and PTF have surprisingly quickly surpassed the results from a competing turbo kit that uses a single turbo setup and have done so without relying on meth injection band-aids. A true fueling upgrade is here as well as a turbo upgrade making some serious power and setting the standard.

Congratulations and much respect to all the parties involved, dyno graphs and videos are below.

How long have they been putting turbos on E46 M3's? This car has been on the dyno twice, last time with a $#@!ty last minute blend I am now being told is 96.5 octane. Yet we made basically 700 HP. I am pretty confident with some real 109 or E85 we will be over 750. This is hypothetical of course. But comparing a platform that has had its limits pushed for YEARS now to a kit that has been on the dyno twice and almost matched that number seems rather illogical. We will see where we end up when tuning is COMPLETE for all fuels

The E46 M3 is 11.5:1 to compression with an 8k rpm redline coming naturally aspirated from the factory. They did that on the stock DME and stock internals, that's huge.

How long have they been putting turbos on E46 M3's? This car has been on the dyno twice, last time with a $#@!ty last minute blend I am now being told is 96.5 octane. Yet we made basically 700 HP. I am pretty confident with some real 109 or E85 we will be over 750. This is hypothetical of course. But comparing a platform that has had its limits pushed for YEARS now to a kit that has been on the dyno twice and almost matched that number seems rather illogical. We will see where we end up when tuning is COMPLETE for all fuels

Tony do you think this setup will be reliable on the road at that power level? Or will you recommend that the power should be turned down?

This engine was BMW's first foray into forced induction gasoline motors in a very long time, in modern times at least.

The fact it does so well and has developed this kind of following will ensure its place in history, BMW and general automotive.

I think a better comparison for the N54 is the Gallo 12 anyway.

It has its place in history because it signified a shift at BMW. I won't get into the politics but simply because of the fact it is forced induction from the factory is a big footnote in the history of BMW engines.

Tony do you think this setup will be reliable on the road at that power level? Or will you recommend that the power should be turned down?

I had it on the road after the dyno session on the same map that made 693. Feels great, if we can get this on E85 then you can run this all the time and do it cheap. We will do a proper test with fuels so we can have maps for specific fuels so you know you are safe. As far as the spool comparisons. We are going to work on that a little bit and also the production kit is receiving some changes to increase spool. This kit was pretty much a testing ground to see what works and what needs to be changed.

And the nice thing about the E46 M3 is that it comes better prepared for a high HP setup (better OEM suspension + LSD).

Huh? Have you ever done an E46 M3? The rear subframes are well known point of failure, and need serious addressing in stock form, let alone high HP. I know you're enthusiastic and all, and I respect that, but c'mon, try pulling back on the bench racing a bit. Just say congrats, and let's see how it stacks up in the real world. Internets HP is totally irrelevant.

i still dont understand why people ask VTT these types of questions, or why he answers.

Its not up to him to say its reliable- no offense VTT, but your building the hardware. PTF should answer that question

We can talk tuning from the point of view of loggable parameters such as boost stability, knock, EGT, AFR, fuel trims. When it comes to these things there isn't a single unreliable thing I can think of.

I think the question was more to do with overall reliability of the kit and that my friends comes with TIME So far so good

A lot of bull$#@! here as expected, so allow me to bull$#@! a little as well.

I, for one think the N54 is a special motor, in fact; a very special motor. Why? Because it was BMWs first turbo motor in this country for over 20 years and one that started a completely new enthusiast following to the brand and brought in a new consumer base for BMW. The motor itself, launched 5 or so other turbo motors for other cars in the line and even they thought it was special enough to put into an M car. 700 WHP on stock internals is incredible, there is only a handful of 6 cylinder motors in this world that can say that is possible. Is the N54 a 2JZ? No, it is not. Is it a worthy successor? Absolutely, even though it is made by a completely different company with different technology and under a different time. Is it as good as an S65/S54? This is ridiculous to even ask because each of these motors is so different. The S motors were made as high revvers for track cars not designed to be FI. The n54 is a lower compression, DI motor made for a complete daily driver for drivers of all types. Why is this important? Because we are comparing a non M motor to M motors and that should already say everything. Will it be regarded as one of the greatest BMW motors ever? ... Only M car owners and NA purists will say no... the ones who put FI into the S65 and S54 are immediately disqualified from any argument as we are talking about a turbo motor from the factory. This is a silly arguement to even make from FI S65s and FI S54s owners. All bull$#@! aside, major congrats to Dzenno, Jake, Vargas and PTF!!!

Why is this important? Because we are comparing a non M motor to M motors and that should already say everything.

All that says is one motor came from the factory in forced induction form meaning by default there will be more forced induction tuning.

Don't jump ahead to trying to compare it to the big boys. It's an N54 leave it as an N54 and discuss it as an N54. It's like 335 owners have to constantly try to equate to the M3 or M motors to feel better. Just enjoy the $#@!ing platform.

I for one love 3 series cars... the one in this thread (remember what this thread was about?) is a particularly fun car. Regardless of engine, I'd be happy to drive any of them. Major kudos to PTF and Tony for what they've created and I'm glad to be a part of it.

All that says is one motor came from the factory in forced induction form meaning by default there will be more forced induction tuning.

Don't jump ahead to trying to compare it to the big boys. It's an N54 leave it as an N54 and discuss it as an N54. It's like 335 owners have to constantly try to equate to the M3 or M motors to feel better. Just enjoy the $#@!ing platform.

By 'engine' define that. If bmw made an amazing engine, and it was in a lawn mower with amazing volumetric efficiency, and you could spend 30k boosting it to the sky, I wouldn't call that a better 'engine' than an n54 making the same power.

My personal, PERSONAL definition of better engine would be the all round package they provide. If the question were, is the S65 or 2jz better? Even if the VE of the s65 was astronomically higher, given the current power outputs currently, the 2jz would still be king. Being forced induction already IS an advantage, even if you can FI the S65. The 2jz doesn't require an internal rebuild like the S65 does to put out power of 700-800 like the S65 does. The ease of getting to those power levels are significantly easier on the 2jz as well. Pretty soon, regardless of the VE of the N54, we will see that making power on this platform will be easier than its non FI counterparts, regardless of the block structure or VE. The N54 is going to be a superior platform for <1000 power levels than the S65 dollar for dollar. Does the S65 have more potential top end growth? Naturally as the displacement is higher, does have higher VE when that ultimately matters and other benefits. However for the average Joe making 700-800whp, the N54 is a better package than the S65 at the moment, IMHO.